Hikari no Hades
by AkizukiSakura
Summary: Gaara is lonely ruling the Underworld and its denizens, a job he never wanted to begin with. Can a blonde, blue-eyed mortal liven up the Realm of the Dead? Based loosely on the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. GaaNaru On HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **_Hikari no Hades  
_**Author: **_AkizukiSakura  
_**Pairing(s):**_ GaaNaru  
_**Spoilers/Warnings: **_As far as I know, the spoilers are minimal. This is an AU based loosely on the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone  
_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _Naruto _or _Naruto: Shippuden._ I make no monetary profit from the writing and posting of this, or any, fanfiction.__  
_**Notes: **_I've always been really fascinated with mythology and fairy tales. This story was going to be either a take on _Beauty and the Beast _or a take on _The Rape of Persephone_. As you can see, it ended up being the latter. Hope you enjoy it!_

_I have no idea how many chapters this will be._

**Hikari no Hades  
**_Prologue_

The room was drab by anyone's standards. The walls were a washed-out, brown sandstone color, adorned with nothing – no paintings, no hangings – to break the monotony, with the sole exception of a string of small, circular windows behind a big, plain wooden desk. Upon the desk rested a large, circular silver mirror. The frame was dull, tarnished with age, and its etchings were utterly unintelligible. The mirror might have been the only interesting thing in the room had it not been for the room's sole occupant.

Gazing solemnly into the mirror was a young man. His hair, a bright crimson in color, was a splash of intensity that was almost grating on the senses against the otherwise dull background of the office. Listless green eyes were trained upon an image in the mirror: A laughing young man with vibrant blue eyes crinkling in amusement. Spiky blonde hair shone in the sunlight, and white teeth flashed as he spoke to someone the mirror did not show. The blonde seemed to almost glow, wherever he was, in a way that his surroundings had nothing to do with.

The redheaded observer in the dull room appeared to be so absorbed in the image in the mirror that he didn't so much as stir when the door to his office opened unexpectedly. A third young man poked his head into the room. In appearance, he and the redhead were similar, though the third young man was taller, and brunette. "Gaara?" he asked, and rolled his eyes when the original occupant of the room ignored him. He slipped fully into the room and meandered carelessly to Gaara, letting the door close quietly behind him. Since the redhead seemed to have no objections to him doing it, he peered over the younger man's shoulder. He needed only a brief glance to learn who the redhead was watching, and then he snorted.

For some reason, the sound drew Gaara's attention, and green eyes shifted to give him a questioning glare. "Something amuses you, Kankurou…?" The question trailed off in the otherwise silent room but, despite the apparent innocence of the query, Kankurou still took several steps back, hands rising automatically in a placating gesture that he knew would be futile if Gaara was truly angry with him. Still the glare did not abate, and if Kankurou had been human he likely would have begun to sweat. However, since he was also not currently buried in sand up to his eyeballs, he decided that Gaara actually _wanted_ an answer. Even so, death was no deterrent to Gaara. The God of the Underworld had his ways to get answers from the dead, after all.

"I was just thinking that you're oddly fixated on that mortal lately, is all," Kankurou explained hastily. The glare intensified and the brunette rushed on hurriedly. "It's not like you to really care about what's happening on the surface. Not since…"

The excuse was a pathetic one and Kankurou was already envisioning a few centuries being tortured in the Fields of Torment, but luckily the glare softened into Gaara's customary expressionless stare. Kankurou released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding – an impressive feat given that he didn't strictly _need_ to breathe – and watched his younger brother relax fractionally, slender fingers twining together and hands resting on the desk. The listless stare returned to contemplating the mirror and, for a moment, Kankurou thought Gaara had gone back to ignoring him. It came as something of a surprise when the younger god chose to speak_._

"…he intrigues me," was Gaara's calm, flat statement. His voice was soft and atonal, and yet it managed to convey all the emotion that his posture and eyes masked with ease. "He is…bright, and _color_. He is everything that this place is not…"

A rare pang of sympathy flashed through Kankurou at the redhead's placid, blunt comment. His younger brother had never wanted to rule the Underworld. That job had belonged to their father, but the task had fallen to Gaara when their father had attempted to invade the realm of the Sky to increase his share of the mortals' offerings. The Underworld throne should have gone to Kankurou, or even their sister Temari, but despite his imprisoned status, the previous Lord of the Underworld was still given the right to name his successor. And that successor, reluctant though he was, had been Gaara.

Thinking of Temari made Kankurou wish, briefly, that their older sister was around. While she had approximately the emotional range of a grain of sand, she had always been better at giving advice, particularly to their prickly younger brother. Kankurou watched his brother stare into the mirror for several long moments before finally shrugging helplessly.

"Maybe you should just kidnap him," he said blandly in a poor attempt at a joke. Not that it mattered if it was good or not… Gaara wouldn't know a joke if it danced the hula in front of him and dumped ice down his robes. With a sigh, Kankurou reached into his shirt and withdrew a bundle of messily-clipped papers. His brother turned black-ringed eyes – a sign of Gaara's power over death and dreaming – to meet his and, if Kankurou didn't know better, he'd almost swear his little brother looked… contemplative. He shook the disconcerting thoughts away, refusing to consider the possible ramifications of a thoughtful Gaara, and pressed the sad excuse for a bound report onto his brother's desk.

"Reports on new denizens," he stated unnecessarily, watching his brother sit back in his chair and retrieve the pages. Gaara scanned them with almost the same single-mindedness he'd watched the mirror earlier, but from the way his gaze occasionally strayed back to the mirror, Kankurou suspected that Gaara's thoughts were on something other than the reports.

Since it seemed unlikely that he was going to get any further conversation, sparse as it was, from his little brother, Kankurou quietly left the office. If Gaara needed him, the Lord of the Underworld had ways to find him quickly enough.

* * *

"Eek! Naruto, that's _cold_!" The girlish scream came from a green-eyed young woman whose strawberry-blonde hair was more strawberry than blonde; in the bright sunshine it was almost the pale pink of her namesake – the _sakura_ blossom. The target of her playful ire was an extremely tan blue-eyed blonde. Dressed in bright orange swimming shorts with his hands on his hips and a goofy grin on his handsome features, his appearance screamed 'prankster'. His eyes were kind, though, and his boisterous laugh was infectious, for the young woman was soon laughing despite her soaked bikini top.

Naruto grinned good-naturedly at her as she splashed him in the face in retaliation, licking his lips and tasting the ocean salt. Seeing his companion's gaze stray back toward the private beach, he turned and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi! Are you coming in or what, Sasuke-teme?" The raven-haired young man in question gave Naruto a look that could curdle milk and resolutely remained seated under the ridiculously large, blue beach umbrella planted firmly in the sand. The blonde frowned and waded out of the water, loping easily across the beach to squat down beside his friend. "No swimming?" he asked, his tone half-pleading.

The brunette grimaced. "Pale skin, dobe," he muttered. "I'll burn to a crisp if I go out there in the middle of the day."

"Didn't you bring any sun block?" Naruto wanted to know, brows knit curiously. They'd been planning this trip to the Uchiha family's private beach for almost three months now – it was unlike the pale young man to be unprepared. To Naruto's surprise, a faint red flush dusted Sasuke's features. Before he could say anything else, Sakura came bounding over, ducked under the umbrella, and plopped down beside Sasuke. Apparently unaware of the fact that she had interrupted, she rummaged through their cooler and withdrew three water bottles, handing one to Sasuke and tossing the other to Naruto.

Naruto noted with interest that, though Sakura had perched rather close to Sasuke, the brunette hadn't moved away like he would have several weeks ago. Neither of his friends would look at him, either. While Naruto knew he wasn't precisely the brightest crayon in the box, he knew immediately that his friends were trying to hide something from him, and it didn't take a genius for him to guess what that something was.

"I see," he said finally, looking between the couple. "When did this happen?"

"A couple weeks ago," the girl muttered, seemingly embarrassed to be caught so easily. "It… happened a little after we made plans to come here." She glanced at Sasuke, who said nothing – either because he was also embarrassed or because he knew his silence was confirmation enough.

Naruto didn't know which one it was, and he didn't care. "Were either of you planning to tell me, or was I just supposed to never find out?" was his next question. There was no bitterness in his tone, he knew, only open curiosity. Again, their silence was all the answer he needed. He rocked back on his heels to stare at them for a moment, and then shrugged. "There're a couple of shops on the public beach that sell sunscreen. I'll go get some; it'll only take a few minutes." He popped to his feet and jogged off down the beach before either of his friends could speak.

Later that night, Naruto did not sleep well. For one thing, it was _hot_. Although Sasuke's family was considerably wealthy, even going as far as to have their own private beach, the cabin Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were staying in did not have central air conditioning. The thinking was that Sasuke's parents wanted their children to enjoy the beach, not the beach _house._ Unfortunately, it meant that the breeze-less summer nights were almost unbearable, and this was one of those nights. Naruto had stripped down to his orange boxers and it was still too hot to sleep.

He tried to pretend that it was only the heat that kept him awake but, the truth was, he was upset. He loved his friends dearly, and had for some time. The problem was that he loved the both of them more than platonically and they did not feel the same. Sakura had only ever had eyes for Sasuke, and Sasuke… Well, up until a few hours ago, Naruto would have bet that Sasuke was asexual. He'd never seen Sasuke spare a person of either gender so much as a glance. Naruto had long since resigned himself to being their friend and nothing more, but to find that they were together left him feeling an awful lot like a third wheel – decorative, but unnecessary. He didn't really enjoy the feeling very much, come to think of it.

He probably wouldn't have felt so terrible about the revelation had they come out and _told _him, but the fact that they'd kept it a secret for several _weeks _left him feeling more than a little blue, though he'd tried his best to hide it. After all, Sakura had always turned his date requests down flat and he'd never actually _told _Sasuke-teme that he liked him as more than just a friend. And all that aside, he liked _both_ of them. They'd been his first ever real friends, and they'd been with him through thick and thin for several years. The very last thing he wanted to do was come between them, but it didn't ease the sting of betrayal any.

"Bah," he grumbled, breaking that train of thought and rolling out of bed with a sigh. A glance at the clock, followed by a disbelieving double-take, showed that it was already a little after five in the morning. The very faint light in the sky through his window indicated that dawn was fast approaching. There'd be no point to going back to sleep now, if even he could, so he pulled off his boxers and dressed in his orange swim trunks. After a moment, he chose to pull a T-shirt on as well, absently tucking his pendant under the shirt and running a hand through his hair in a failed attempt to get it to lie flat. An early morning run would hopefully help clear his mind, and at the very least would get him out of the stifling confines of his room.

Decision made, he tossed a small towel around his neck and hopped nimbly out of his window; he was on the first floor, so it wasn't much of a drop. Even so, his landing was muted by the sand, which meant that his chances of waking his friends were slim. A voice in his head – the one that sounded annoyingly like Sasuke's – commented snidely that he was only delaying the inevitable confrontation, but he ignored it in favor of striding down to the tide line.

After a short warm-up, he began to jog. The wet sand sank frustratingly under his bare feet, but it was easier than running in dry sand and it required enough concentration that it kept his mind off Sakura and Sasuke's newly-revealed relationship for at least an hour – long enough for him to jog the length of the ten kilometer beach at a healthy pace. It was a great distraction but, in the end, it didn't erase the bitterness he felt. He came to a slow stop near an outcropping of rocks surrounding by a number of small tidal pools, remembering Sasuke's statement the day prior that this marked the boundary of the Uchihas' private beach. He leaned over, palms braced on his thighs, panting from the exertion of his run. While he ran consistently, as was expected of a university-level distance runner, it was still tough on his calves to run such a distance on the wet sand. At last he straightened and wiped his face with his towel, grimacing at the feeling of sand particles scraping over his sunburned cheeks.

He was watching the sun rise over the blue-green waves and contemplating a morning swim to cap his exercise routine – Sasuke's voice commented dryly that he was _still _trying to avoid the issues, which he ignored with the same finesse as usual – when a breeze swept through and almost lovingly ruffled his spiky hair. The breeze was welcome, considering how swiftly the morning was heating up, but it was also _strange_, particularly because it was bone dry. Naruto wasn't exactly a meteorologist or anything, but he knew enough to realize that beach breezes were always laden with moisture. The strange breeze made him uneasy, and the feelings were only compounded when the soft crunch of footsteps on seashells alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone on the beach.

He turned, fully expecting to see either Sasuke or Sakura, but the arbitrary greeting on his lips was cut off when he got a good look at the other figure. The person in question was a young man who looked about the same age as Naruto, though the figure seemed to be just a little bit taller, even if Naruto included his unruly hair in the measurement. The young man observed him coolly, mint green gaze utterly expressionless; the rising sun lit his hair, turning it the deep red of a fresh, ripe apple. He stood completely still, arms loosely crossed over his chest, which drew Naruto's attention to another odd thing about the stranger: the redhead was fully dressed despite being on a beach.

By far the weirdest thing about the young man, however, was his complexion. At first glance Naruto would have said that the other man was simply extremely pale, rather like Sasuke but, in the gradually brightening morning light, Naruto realized that the man's skin was actually so white it was almost _gray_. In spite of the anomaly, or perhaps because of it, the man's skin looked smoother than the finest cashmere and was utterly free of blemish, be it the tell-tale sign of veins or even the smallest freckle. There was something _unearthly_ about this man that set Naruto on edge and kept him staring for almost five full minutes before it finally occurred to the blonde that the other man shouldn't even be here – unless Sasuke had invited him, of course, but Naruto had never heard Sasuke mention a redhead like this man.

"Er," he began awkwardly, gripping both ends of his towel around his neck for lack of anything better to do. "Are you lost, or something?" The query was cautious, but not as careful as Naruto's steps as he walked across the wet sand toward the stranger. The redhead didn't _look _like he was harmful, but Naruto knew better than to trust his eyesight. Sasuke had taught him that a long, long time ago – back when they were on…_less than friendly _terms. When the other man said nothing at all, Naruto frowned slightly. "It's just, y'know, this is a private beach. I don't really care, but if Sasuke finds you here, he's liable to call the cops on you or something." He offered a hand to the still-silent man. "C'mon. I'll walk you back to the public beaches if you want. They aren't that far away."

Something flickered through the man's green eyes – some hint of emotion – but it was gone before Naruto could really identify it. Slowly, the strange unfolded his arms, his gaze dropping to the proffered hand and then back up to meet Naruto's sincere blue eyes. Then, to Naruto's surprise, the faintest of smiles curved the stoic man's lips, and for some reason Naruto found his gaze lingering on that smile as though it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. Thinking about it, he didn't know what about it was so intriguing, only that some part of him wanted to see it flourish.

Perhaps he was experiencing the same feelings he'd had when he'd first met Sasuke – the brunette had been an antisocial mess that Naruto had worked for _years _at before he'd finally earned Sasuke's first true smile. He was still contemplating these odd feelings for a perfect stranger when the redhead's hand clasped his, and the chill of those fingers jolted Naruto out of his thoughts. He looked up quickly, meeting icy green eyes, and knew his expression conveyed his shock. How could anyone's body be so _cold_, especially in this heat…?

The sudden jerk on his hand brought his thoughts to a skittering halt and, with a startled cry, he found himself tripping against the abrupt movement. The sand under his feet did him no favors as he struggled to catch himself and he ended up falling gracelessly against the stranger. He fully expected to send the both of them tumbling to the ground but, for whatever reason, the redhead stayed firmly in place. He hadn't released Naruto, either. A glance at the sand under their feat revealed that the stranger's feet were buried to the ankle, which might have accounted for why he'd managed to stay upright.

Naruto shook those thoughts away, returning to the immediate problem at hand. A scowl twisted his features. "What the hell, man?" He jerked on his captive hand and was only a little surprised when the man showed he was stronger than he looked – no matter how much force Naruto put into the movement, he couldn't get free. Frustratingly, the redhead made it look effortless, even though Naruto _knew _he wasn't weak. "Let go!" he shouted, confused and starting to panic a little.

The redhead tilted his head just a little, as though trying to decide _why_ he should let go. All was silent, and then… "No… I don't think I will…" His tone was flat, almost bored.

Naruto froze, though, and stared. He actually talked. After all this, Naruto had started to suspect that he had an escaped lunatic on his hands or something. The fact that the man spoke, however, soon paled against what he'd said. Naruto found himself staring incredulously at how easily the man had denied Naruto's demand. He was surprised enough that when the stranger did let go of his hand, he didn't move. It wasn't until the man raised both hands that Naruto realized he was free. He opened his mouth to yell, and stopped again. This time his gaze was riveted over the redhead's left shoulder. He gaped. There was… The _sand_ was…

The dry sand swirled around the redhead, _rose off the ground_, and arched over them in a huge wave, as though threatening to engulf them. The blonde could only stare, flabbergasted. What the hell…? _How_ the hell…?

"I think…" The tiniest hint of emotion drifted into the other man's tone, but even that couldn't draw Naruto's attention from the huge effing wall of sand. "…I think I will take you, after all…" The words were so quiet that Naruto had to strain to hear them over the sinister, silky whisper of the shifting sand but, when he realized what the redhead had said, his blue eyes widened and he stumbled back a single step. The movement appeared to aggravate either the redhead or his sand, though, because the wave rose ominously, sand whipping chaotically despite the lack of wind. The terrifying sight galvanized Naruto into action, finally, and he turned to run. He made it all of two steps before sand looped around his ankles. He fell hard and managed to struggle to his hands and knees before the sand crashed down on him, forcing him flat once more.

He squeezed his eyes shut, teeth grit against the pressure that bordered on pain. The feel of the course granules sliding roughly over his skin only added to the discomfort, and Naruto found that being buried like this in the sand was almost like drowning; except that when he had almost drowned a few years ago, he'd still been able to flail around. Like this, he couldn't even wiggle his toes. The force of the sand kept him pressed down despite his efforts to struggle against it and he began to panic again because he _couldn't breathe_ and his air was running out.

Why the hell was this happening to him? How could the redhead even control sand like this? Damn it, he really needed air, because he was getting lightheaded. Sand shifted near his left ear, loosening, and then he heard that voice again. It was smooth, and toneless, but there might have been a bit of satisfaction in it. "Relax," murmured the redhead, and the words were gentle and almost hypnotic. "Do not fight it. Sleep." Naruto felt like he was clinging to the edge of a precipice, but the voice was compulsive. With nothing else to do, and with his air supply exhausted, he let go. Unconsciousness was swift and merciful.

* * *

_Word Count: 3820_

_So, I was going to continue, because this is pretty short, but I decided it's a good length for a prologue. Subsequent chapters should be about double the length. I hope everyone enjoyed! This will be my first attempt at a story-length GaaNaru. _

_~AkizukiSakura_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **_Hikari no Hades  
_**Author: **_AkizukiSakura  
_**Pairing(s):**_ GaaNaru  
_**Spoilers/Warnings: **_As far as I know, the spoilers are minimal. This is an AU inspired loosely by the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone  
_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _Naruto _or _Naruto: Shippuden._ I make no monetary profit from the writing and posting of this, or any, fanfiction.__  
_**Notes: **_This chapter has a metric crap-ton of exposition as Naruto learns where he is and how things work. Hopefully it isn't too boring. On the plus side, he gets to talk to Gaara at the end…?_

**Hikari no Hades  
**_Chapter One_

The process of waking up was normal enough that, as Naruto yawned and squinted in the hazy light, he'd decided that the strange red-haired man and his creepy sand had been nothing more than a dream. Letting his eyes slowly adjusted to the relative gloom, however, he realized he didn't recognize his surroundings at all. His thoughts went from sluggish to wide-awake in less than a second. He made to sit up and found that it was more of a struggle than it really should have been – the coverlet keeping the chill of the room at bay seemed heavier than any cloth had the right to be. Finally he managed to shove the stupid duvet aside and sit up, but just that little bit of activity drained him; he nearly faceplanted onto the covers. He caught himself and scanned his surroundings, noting with some surprise that he was in a large bedroom. The walls were a bland brown that might have been sandstone, but the most obvious thing about the room was that, despite the fact that it was steadily growing brighter as his eyes adjusted, there were no windows.

The room was well-appointed, if a little on the dull side. His bed was at least a king, with plush sheets and sumptuous pillows, but the dark wood was plain and unembellished. The dresser, nightstand and mirror were all solid wood, and the dresser and nightstand had matching marble tops, indicating that the furniture was expensive indeed. His overall impression of the room was that it was nice, but the lack of windows meant that he felt too much like a prisoner in a cell to really appreciate any of it. He shifted slowly so that he could put his bare feet on the floor. A plush rug of some kind of soft fur soothed the aches of his feet that came from his long run on the beach. He pushed himself to his feet and yelped, dropping almost immediately back onto the bed. For some reason he felt _incredibly_ weak. If he had to compare this weakness to one in the past, he'd say it was like that time in University a few years back when he'd lost his wallet and had to go nearly a week without any food.

There was a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of something – probably water – sitting innocently on what looked like a desk near the door of the room, but the idea of eating anything right now sent his stomach roiling nauseously. He rubbed his face, trying to make some sense of this situation. He'd been kidnapped by some weirdo with freaky sand, and yet he was in a room that looked rather nice. He felt weak as fuck – but he wouldn't be surprised if he'd been drugged or something.

The blonde pressed his lips stubbornly together and made a second attempt to get to his feet. Wherever he was, he had to try and escape – drugged or not – before than insane redhead came back. This time he was able to wobble a handful of steps before nearly collapsing again; a frantic grab for the wall was all that kept him from a graceless tumble to the floor. He drew in a shaky breath, firmed his resolve, and pushed off the wall. He stumbled over to the door and slammed into it, biting off a hasty swear word as pain lanced sharply though his knee where it had impacted with the heavy wood. Muttering darkly, he tried the handle, half expecting the door to be locked. It wasn't, which only added to his suspicion. What kind of kidnapper went to the trouble of snatching up a person, gave them a plush, _windowless_ room to sleep in, and then left the door unlocked?

Cautiously, he opened the door and poked his head over the threshold. The room opened into a short hallway that looked…surprisingly normal. He crept as quietly as he could out of his room, making sure to shut the door behind him; there was no need to advertise his absence, after all. A second glance down the hall revealed a curtained window and he shuffled eagerly toward it, using the wall as support. If he could just figure out where he was, he could formulate some kind of plan to get out of here. After what felt like an obscene amount of time, but was really only a few seconds, he was able to thrust the curtains aside and peer out. It took a moment for him to actually comprehend what he was seeing. When he finally did, it felt like the bottom of his stomach had dropped to somewhere around the vicinity of his ankles.

"How long was I unconscious?" he whispered, horrified by what he was staring at. The window overlooked what appeared to be a city crafted entirely of brown stone. Piles of sand littered the streets and people milled about below, but the people were grey: grey skin, grey hair, grey _everything_. It was the single most disturbing thing he'd ever seen in his life. He pressed closer to the window to see; sand-laden wind blew seemingly endlessly, obscuring his vision more often than not. Even scarier than the grey people, if that was possible, was the sky – or what he could see of the sky. There were no clouds, no sun, and no moon. The sky wasn't even blue – it was the bloody crimson color the horizon usually turned at dusk.

Unable to cope with these bizarre abnormalities, Naruto backed away from the window and leaned dizzily against the wall. "What the hell?" he muttered incredulously. Was he on LSD or something? He'd never really done drugs, except that one time as a freshman, but he'd heard of the weird hallucinations one could get while high, and it was all he could come up with to explain his surroundings. He might have stayed there against the wall until someone came along and put him back in his room if not for the fact that he caught the faint strains of a conversation drifting through the hallway. From the sound of it, the speakers weren't very far. With renewed purpose, Naruto made his way slowly but steadily down the hall, determined to figure out what was going on. As he got closer, he was able to make out words.

"…you have got to be _shitting _me. Are you insane, Kankurou?" This speaker was a woman, and she sounded _livid._ "What _possessed_ you to suggest such a thing to Gaara? Fuck, you had to have known he'd take it seriously!" There was a masculine mutter, followed by the soft _whump _of a fist striking someone. Naruto winced in spite of himself, having been on the receiving end of countless punches from Sakura-chan.

"Ouch! Damn it, Temari! That hurt!" This statement, presumably, came from 'Kankurou', and he didn't sound very happy either. "How was I supposed to know he'd go and actually kidnap a mortal?" Naruto blinked, pressing closer to the open door. Mortal? What were these people _on_? And he thought _he_ was the one who'd been drugged. Maybe it was some sort of code…? "Besides," Kankurou continued, apparently oblivious to Naruto's presence, "I thought he'd know better. He _knows_ that mortals fall asleep in his presence. It's part of his job description, damn it. Why else would people refer to him as 'The Sand Man'?"

Okay, now Naruto _knew _these people were insane. According to them, the guy who'd kidnapped him was some kind of god of sleep who used magic sand to knock people out. _Yeah, right._

"Well, I hope you're ready to be the one to tell him that his precious mortal's gonna die, since you're the one who got us into this mess! Mortals need food and water to live, which he can't get if he's sleeping." The girl showed no signs of calming down, if her tone was anything to go by. "Of all the stupid, harebrained things to say to our little brother–!" She stopped abruptly and Naruto frowned, wanting to hear more about this 'Gaara'. So wrapped up in the conversation he was eavesdropping on, he didn't notice right away that he was no longer alone. Something nudged his leg but he ignored it, waiting impatiently for the man and woman to continue. It brushed against his leg again and, irate, he looked down to see what was annoying him and froze.

A white _thing _was staring at him. It looked catlike, but his mind eventually supplied him with the information that this creature was a weasel. It wore _clothes_ and had a strip of cloth wrapped around its head, obscuring one eye – and, in a word, it was oddly terrifying. It blinked at him and then began hissing menacingly. Naruto backed slowly away from it, hands raised to show they were empty. "Ah, nice…weasel…thing…?" he tried. The sound of a shattering dish brought his attention to the two he'd been listening in on. He tried to put on a tough front, but the effect was ruined when his knees arbitrarily buckled and he had to catch the doorframe to keep from collapsing to the floor.

The woman, a sandy-haired blonde with her hair in the strangest array of pigtails Naruto had ever seen, appeared to have dropped her teacup, if the shards of china on the floor and the puddle of reddish-brown liquid was anything to go by. Well, that explained the sound of breaking china… She was staring at him like she'd just seen a ghost, which Naruto found funny in a slightly hysterical way given that both she and her companion were the same ghastly grey-white as everyone else here, though at least the lack of color was limited to their skin like it had been for Gaara. The man, Kankurou, looked a lot like Naruto's kidnapper, except his hair and eyes were brown. He had a cookie raised halfway to his mouth, but in light of Naruto's appearance he'd obviously forgotten about it.

"Uh…hi," Naruto said finally, seeing as how neither of them looked like they were going to say anything. He expected some sort of reaction – after all, they obviously knew Gaara, which meant they probably knew that Naruto was supposed to be a prisoner.

"Holy shit," Temari breathed, not even moving to clean up the slowly spreading puddle of tea. "You're… You're actually _awake_." Her expression morphed into one of annoyance and she directed a glare at the brunette. "You told me Gaara went to get this mortal personally, and that he buried him in his sand!"

"He _did_! I used the mirror when I realized Gaara was gone, and I saw it happen myself!"

"Well obviously you're wrong, considering that this kid's awake right now!"

"Um…" Naruto glanced at the hissing weasel and then back to the arguing pair. "Could you maybe call off this, uh, weasel thing before it eats me, or whatever it looks like it's about to do to me…?" They looked at him in surprise and Naruto realized in bemusement that they'd completely forgotten he was there.

With a sigh, Temari flicked her fingers into a series of weird signs and the weasel vanished in a puff of spoke before Naruto's startled eyes. Clearly seeing Naruto's weakness and shock, she scowled at Kankurou. "Don't just sit there," she snapped. "Help him to a chair before he falls over."

"Geeze, just because you're older doesn't mean you have to nag," Kankurou complained, getting to his feet and shuffling over to Naruto. When the blonde didn't move, he rolled his eyes and grabbed Naruto's arm, looping it over his broad shoulders and tugging him over to a chair. He pushed the blue-eyed blonde unceremoniously into a chair and sat down again.

Numbly, Naruto stared first at Temari and then at Kankurou. "That weasel thing just…vanished." Forgetting that he wasn't supposed to trust these two, since they were probably in on the whole kidnapping thing, he released a shaky breath and asked, "_How_…?"

The woman exchanged an unreadable glance with the brunette and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose irritably. "I see Gaara didn't bother visiting in your dreams to explain any of this… Of course…" She rolled her eyes skyward and scowled. "Typical Gaara… Right, well, first thing's first. Welcome to the Underworld, mortal." She stared at Naruto, obviously expecting some kind of reaction to her statement.

Naruto shook himself from his stupor with a snort. "Underworld, right. What's that code for, a gang or something?" He shrank back when Kankurou slammed his fist onto the table, lips twisted into a fierce scowl. Temari, too, looked unamused.

"Don't insult us, mortal. You may be my little brother's pet, but I guarantee that he won't hesitate to vaporize you for disrespecting him. He's not as bad as Father was, but he's plenty sadistic enough to find a way to make it last," Kankurou threatened, only settling down when Temari gave him a hard glare.

"Look, why the hell would I believe you? You're trying to tell me you two are gods, and that insane redhead is a god, too?" Naruto crossed his arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Seriously, how stupid do you think I am?"

Temari drummed her fingers on the table. "I don't think you want us to answer that," she commented snidely, ignoring the frown Naruto sent her. "You want proof? Tough. We're not obligated to prove anything to you." Naruto opened his mouth to protest but she spoke over him. "Honestly, I don't give a fuck what you believe. My brother wanted you here, but I don't have to like it, and I don't have to treat you nicely either."

Naruto scowled at her. "Well, if you don't like me, send me back. You're _gods_ after all, right?"

"We don't have the power to do that," Kankurou admitted gruffly, crossing his arms. "We aren't major gods." Naruto, despite his anger, gave him a confused look and the brunette sighed irritably. "There are hundreds of gods and goddesses," he explained reluctantly, tipping his chair on its hind legs and leaning back. "Gaara is a great god, one of five. The five great gods are known as 'shadows', or _kages._ Gaara, as the ruler of the Underworld, inherited the title of 'Kazekage' when our father, ah…stepped down."

Temari continued the story, tone bored. "Only the five kages have the power to transport a mortal between the surface world and their domains, and even then there are limits. The Raikage, for example, couldn't take a mortal from the surface world and bring that mortal here directly. He'd have to take the mortal to _his_ lands and _then_ travel here. There are five realms total: The Underworld, the Sky Domain, the Ocean, the Earth, and what we call the Harvest Lands, where all life originates from."

"Right…" Naruto stared at the siblings for several long moments before whistling. "You're…not joking. Holy _fuck_…" He hesitated. "So, am I a prisoner here, or…?"

"You can't leave the walls of Suna – that's the name of the necropolis, by the way: Sunagakure – not only because Gaara said so, but also because you wouldn't be able to survive if you left the walls. The guards of Paradise won't let you through, and if you find yourself in the Fields of Punishment, well…" She shrugged, but for a split second the expression on her face was scary. "Aside from all that, the lands between our realm and the other realms are inhospitable, even to a god. Otherwise, you can do what you want. No one actually expected you to even wake up, except maybe Gaara, but…"

"Just don't do anything stupid," Kankurou said tartly, ignoring Naruto's glare. "If Gaara wants to see you, he'll find you."

"Well, what about Gaara?" Naruto wanted to know. "Why'd he even bring me here? Did I die or something?"

Surprisingly, that prompted a chuckle from Kankurou. "Nah, you're not dead. Temari's what you mortals would call the 'Grim Reaper'. It's her job to gather up the souls of the mortals when they die." He scratched his head absently. "Thing is, Gaara was just a minor god like us before he became Kazekage. He dealt with sleep and dreams, and he was always sort of…detached. It makes him awkward, even for a lord of the Underworld."

"No one really knows why Gaara does half of the things he does," Temari interjected. "For now, like Kankurou said, just don't cause any trouble." She eyed Naruto, noting his slumped posture and visibly weakened state, and sniffed. "Not that you look like you're in any shape to do anything." Her gaze strayed to the broken teacup. She rolled her eyes and Naruto realized that her eyes, too, were green – though they were more emerald-green than Gaara's mint-green. She snapped her fingers and the shards of china reassembled.

Watching the cup revert to its original state reminded Naruto of another question he wanted to ask. "So, if you're gods, why are you eating cookies and drinking tea?" He squinted thoughtfully. "Don't gods drink nectar and eat ambrosia or something?"

Kankurou snorted, biting into a second cookie. "We're not Greek, you idiot. And, strictly speaking, we don't really need to eat or drink, but it _is_ fun."

Naruto blinked at them incredulously. "…_fun_. Right." He got to his feet, pleased to note that he felt a little better. "I'm going to look around the city then, since I'm allowed to wander." Neither deity moved to stop him, so the blonde cautiously left the room, feeling their eyes on him the entire time.

* * *

Everyone was _staring_ at him, and had been ever since he'd stumbled out of the huge, spherical building that he decided was probably important; the observation was valid, considering the large green kanji for 'wind' was displayed proudly on the building. He supposed that had something to do with that whole 'Kazekage' business. Part of him wanted to discredit what Temari and Kankurou had told him, but the creepy piles of sand that littered the city rustled and coiled languidly – snake-like – whenever he passed them. The one-eyed weasel had watched him with intelligence that seemed very human, and had vanished without a trace. And the people here… Either it was really, really good makeup and hair-dye, or they really _were_ a pearly grey.

Naruto sighed as yet another grey citizen eyed him suspiciously and stepped away from him. He couldn't tell why they were avoiding him, but it was both annoying and saddening at the same time. He didn't realize he'd spoken his frustrations aloud until someone answered him.

"It's 'coz you're different," commented a young child at his elbow. Naruto had no idea if it was a boy or a girl, and he didn't care. He jumped at the chance to talk to _someone_; it was rare he went so long without talking at all. He crouched to meet the child's eyes. They were grey, as expected, but they were bright and had a mischievous sparkle to them that made the blonde smile. The kid grinned at him in return and he reached out to tousle the pale grey hair.

"What's so bad about being different?" he wanted to know, though he kept his tone playful.

"Well, I don't think it's bad," the child said thoughtfully, having apparently taken his question seriously. "But you have color to your hair and eyes. Your clothes are colorful. You even have color in your _skin_. Kazekage-sama has the same skin color as us, and he's our lord. So no one knows what to think of you."

Naruto scratched his cheek, staring at this child. The frank way the kid spoke was…weird. "How do you know all that?" he asked, curious. "No offense, but you're just a kid. Hard to believe a kid knows what everyone's thinking."

"I'm not _just_ a _kid_! I'm Maki! And I know 'coz Mama told me." The child, who Naruto was strongly beginning to suspect was a girl, crossed her arms with all the dignity that she seemed capable of mustering.

"All right then, Maki-chan. I'm Naruto. Nice to meet you!" He glanced around and frowned. "Where's your mother?" A beat. "How _old _are you?" She looked too young to be standing out here alone, and he didn't see anyone around that seemed to be watching the girl.

Maki pointed. "She's in there," she said simply. He followed the direction she pointed. "And I was nine when Mama and I died in a car accident. She's filling out the forms for reincarnation right now."

He knew he was staring – gaping, really – at Maki now. Nine when she _died_? What the _fu-?_ Oh. Right. The Underworld and all that. He ran a hand through his unruly hair, glancing again at the building Maki had pointed out to him. There were a lot of grey-skinned people milling about inside that were _just_ visible through the window. "So… Reincarnation…?"

The little girl nodded sagely, her expression seeming much too old to belong on the face of a child her age. Naruto wondered how long she'd been dead to look so world-weary already. "See, really special people who did good things in their life, they go to Paradise," she explained. "Everyone wants to go there, 'coz it's _perfect_." She hesitated, and then plowed on. "Bad people go to the Fields of Punishment," she continued, grey eyes solemn now. "They get punished for however long Kazekage-sama says, based on how bad they were. Then they come here."

Naruto started, looking around at the people again. That was like letting prisoners from jail mingle with normal people, in his opinion. The girl must have understood his expression, because she shook her head.

"Suna is for the reformed bad people and the unremarkable people like Mama and me." She shuffled her feet and clasped her hands, twisting her fingers restlessly. "We wait here for when there's enough room in the living world for us to reincarnate!" She fell silent after that and Naruto saw what looked like sadness in her level grey eyes.

"Sometimes it takes a long time though, right?" he asked gently. When the girl sniffled – could ghosts even cry? – and nodded, Naruto patted her head gently. Maki didn't say anything else after that and, though Naruto could have left, he chose to wait with her until her mother finally emerged from the building. Maki brightened and ran over to the woman, and Naruto realized uncomfortably that Maki's mother was staring shrewdly at him. He got hastily to his feet and waved. She didn't return the gesture but, to Naruto's amusement, Maki did.

The little girl even cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted "Bye-bye, Naruto-niichan!" across the street. His unease melted at her exuberance despite the scandalized expression on her mother's face.

Just like back home when he was a kid… At least the children warmed up to him easily enough. That was _something…_

* * *

When Naruto finally made it back to the main building – he'd gotten lost and no one would give him directions – he found Temari and Kankurou in the kitchen again. They both looked up when he walked wearily into the room and sank into a chair. He was _tired_.

After talking to Maki, he'd wandered all around Suna, using the time to think about his situation. At first he'd thought to head for the walls anyway. After all, Temari and Kankurou were related to Gaara. For all he knew, they'd lied about what was beyond the walls to make it easier to keep him a prisoner here.

The closer he'd walked towards the walls, however, the more restless the shifting piles of sand became until, by the time he'd actually reached the walls he could have sworn there was an eyeball made of sand following him. He ignored it, guessing that Gaara was keeping tabs on him, and focused instead on the walls. They were well-guarded, he realized. Even if he could somehow sneak through, he'd probably be spotted soon enough if there wasn't any cover on the other side. Discouraged, he'd turned around to find that he was completely lost – and the weird eyeball was gone. Evidently Gaara knew that Naruto wasn't dumb enough to try to escape Suna.

Naruto had spent over an hour trying to find his way back, grumbling about how stupid he had to be to misplace a building that looked like a giant clay ball. Though there was no sun, and Naruto's watch had long since stopped working, he'd always had an internal clock that was scarily-accurate down to the last minute.

Now that he'd finally made it back, he was tired and hungry. Luckily, Temari seemed to have anticipated this because she set a plate of still-steaming food in front of him. He all-but inhaled it, not even taking the time to figure out what it was. It tasted good and it was filling and that was all he cared about; it was his first meal since being kidnapped, however long ago that had been, and his nausea of the morning was gone. When he'd finished, he looked up to find Temari shaking her head and Kankurou staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

Naruto blushed, realizing his manners had probably been non-existent just then. "Ah, sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "Thanks for the meal, Temari-san." The woman twitched and muttered that he should just call her 'Temari'. He shrugged and looked around, then blinked. "What, no Gaara?"

"Gaara doesn't eat with us," Kankurou said, rolling his eyes. "He considers it a waste of time." He hesitated. "He wasn't always like that, though. Before he became Kazekage he talked more, and he ate with us." Temari was glaring at Kankurou, Naruto noticed, but the brunette continued anyway, staring levelly at Naruto. "He was happiest, relatively speaking, as the god of sleep and dreams. He didn't want this job. I don't know why he brought a mortal here, considering he can only talk to mortals through dreams, but–"

"Wait, what?" Naruto sat up straighter and frowned at Kankurou. "What do you mean, only through dreams? He spoke to me before he brought me here. He said…" He trailed off, flushed faintly, and shook his head. "Anyway, he talked to me and I heard him just fine."

Both Temari and Kankurou were staring at him now. "…he talked to you?" Temari whispered, green eyes wide. "You actually _heard_ him? That's impossible. _Impossible_." She didn't sound as sure now, though. Finally, she glared at Naruto, who scowled back at her.

"Look, I didn't know about any of your weird rules," he muttered. "I _do_ know that I went for a run that morning and Gaara grabbed me right after I'd finished. I'm not crazy, and I definitely wasn't asleep."

"…he's right," Kankurou said suddenly. "I was watching, remember? Gaara was definitely talking while the kid was awake, and the kid was talking back. Sure looked like a conversation from where I was sitting."

Naruto twitched. "My name is _Naruto_. Uzumaki Naruto," he added, heatedly. "Not _kid_." He grumbled and got to his feet, stumbled, and grabbed the table to steady himself. Between Kankurou treating him like a child and Temari calling him a liar, he had no desire to stay in the kitchen. He thought he might like to go to bed but, as he walked down the hallway towards his room, he realized that he only knew where the kitchen and his room were. Curious, he began to explore.

Besides, talking about his kidnapping reminded him of Sakura and Sasuke. He wondered how long he'd been here and how his friends had taken his sudden disappearance. Did they think he was angry with them…? He shook the melancholy thoughts from his mind and opened the first door he came to.

Luckily, this room was a bathroom, because Naruto had to _go. _With that taken care of, he wandered over to the next door, opened it, and found himself looking at a staircase that led up. Cautiously, he climbed the stairs. He came across only one door and it was at the very top of the stairs. He tried the handle; it wasn't locked and the door opened smoothly with a light touch. He pushed it open all the way and found that he was on what seemed to be the roof. Despite the spherical construction of the building, the roof was actually flat – it was just hard to see that from the ground, he supposed.

The sky had darkened from its twilight-red to a dark, velvety indigo that was not unlike the night sky back home. There was still no moon, though, nor were there any stars. Interestingly, everything was lit dimly, as though there _was _a moon and stars.

A flash of red caught his eye and Naruto stilled, recognizing the man standing with his back to the door. _Gaara_…

He froze indecisively, barely breathing, and considered retreating back inside. Before he did, though, he glanced at Gaara again. The redhead was dressed differently now than he had been on the beach: White robes fluttered in the faint breeze. Against his grey skin the white was almost blinding. Naruto took a small step back. Suddenly there was a thin blanket of sand behind him, keeping him from leaving. It slithered along his back, making him tense, but all it did was gently urge him forward.

"You need not run from me," Gaara said softly without turning around, voice barely audible in the 'evening' air. Despite Temari's statements earlier, Naruto could hear Gaara just fine.

He scowled. "I wasn't gonna run," he insisted. "You just didn't look like you wanted company is all." Still, he hesitated long enough that the sand nudged him again. He glared at the red-haired god's back and stalked forward to lean on the low wall beside Gaara. He caught the lazy flick of mint-green eyes in his direction before Gaara returned to staring at…whatever it was he'd been staring at before. After several long minutes of silence, Naruto huffed an annoyed breath and turned to his silent companion. "So, your name's Gaara, right?" The slight nod from the redhead indicated that he was listening. Naruto's eyebrow twitched. What was with the silent treatment all of a sudden? He _knew _the god could talk.

He stared at Gaara's relaxed profile for a moment before abruptly sticking out his hand. This time Gaara turned to look at him. He was giving Naruto that blank look again – or, wait… Was that _amusement_ in those green eyes? "My name's Naruto. Since you didn't ask before kidnapping me and all." He wasn't blushing. He _wasn't_, damn it.

The god blinked, all traces of amusement gone now, and glanced down at Naruto's still-extended hand. Naruto wiggled his fingers a little, one eyebrow raised. Slowly, Gaara uncrossed his arms, reached out, and slid his fingers gracefully around Naruto's in a firm, but unassuming, grip. Just like before, his fingers were icy.

"…Naruto…" he said slowly, his tone vaguely thoughtful. He didn't release Naruto's hand until the blonde, uncomfortable, flexed his fingers. Even then the redhead seemed reluctant to let go. Naruto rubbed his fingers idly, trying to coax some warmth back into them. Gaara stared at his hand, head tilted just slightly, but remained silent.

When it seemed Gaara wasn't going to say anything else, Naruto sighed and leaned his butt against the low wall, bracing his palms on either side of his hips. "Look," he began, and Gaara glanced at him again, expression bland as ever. Naruto swallowed but forged on gamely. "I get that you're bored and all that, but I don't belong here. I want to go home, and Temari and Kankurou say that you're the only one who can take me back."

Green eyes appraised him and it was impossible for Naruto to guess what the god was thinking. Then Gaara shrugged and turned away, staring at his village again. "I do not wish to take you home. I want you here," he stated flatly. He sounded…less bored now, but there was still little emotional inflection in his smooth voice.

Naruto bristled. It would have been flattering that the god was so interested in keeping him, if not for the fact that Naruto wanted to go _home._ As it was, his fists clenched, lips pulling down into an irritated frown. He'd known it wasn't going to be that easy, else Gaara wouldn't have kidnapped him to begin with, but it would have been nice.

"You can't keep me here against my will forever," Naruto informed the god coldly – and, if he was honest, somewhat petulantly. He turned his head away from Gaara to glare at the streets below, shifting so that the walls didn't dig so sharply into his back. So wrapped up in his annoyed thoughts, he jumped when cold fingers slid gently across his jaw to press lightly against his cheek, effortlessly bringing his sullen gaze back around. The god tilted his chin up, forcing Naruto to meet his eyes.

"I will not keep you against your will," Gaara agreed serenely, and left the statement at that. The implication – that somehow Naruto would _want _to stay – was not lost on the blonde. For a moment Naruto didn't say anything, too caught up in the mint-green eyes that seemed to read his soul, but then he raised a hand and batted Gaara's fingers away. The god let him, and said nothing when Naruto straightened and walked away.

He paused at the door leading back inside and glanced over his shoulder at the redhead, who had apparently watched him go. "You can't force someone to be your friend, Gaara." The god's eyes widened – presumably at Naruto's audacity in addressing him so informally – but Naruto only shook his head and went inside, closing the door firmly behind him.

* * *

_Word Count: 5932  
_

_So, there's chapter one. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it…? Sasuke and Sakura actually do still have a role to play, but it is a small one. I don't like either of them very much, but I try not to bash characters, so my compromise is that they get small roles._

_While I had this chapter pretty well thought-out in my head, a lot of the plot details and linear-ness came from _Gaaras-Gothic-Ninja-Sappy-Sue_, who helped me tremendously not only with this story but also with two up-coming one-shots. If you haven't read her works, I'd recommend _The Light in the Fifth Floor Bedroom, _particularly if you like psychological thrillers._

_Shameless plugs aside, I look forward to hearing from everyone. Hopefully this chapter measured up to the prologue's potential. We've got a long ride ahead of us, so buckle up and enjoy!_

_~AkizukiSakura_


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